The return of .UA dispute resolution

Hostmaster Limited (Hostmaster), the company responsible for the .UA Registry, released news of the resumption of the UA-DRP in an announcement on its website on 4 July 2023.  New complaints brought under the procedure will now be subject to the following adjustments:

• Registrars now have an additional 14 days within which to respond to WIPO’s verification request after a complaint has been filed.  This is in addition to the two business days stipulated in the UA-DRP rules.  This deadline cannot be extended and the registrar must still confirm the locking of the disputed domain name within the initial two-business-day window.  Registrars must provide all available information about the respondent, including their place of residence or location, provided such disclosure does not contravene the applicable personal data protection legislation.

• Registrants are entitled to request, and will be automatically granted, a 14-day extension within which to submit their response to a complaint.  This is in addition to the 20 days stipulated in the rules.

• The deadline for an unsuccessful respondent to file an application in the Ukrainian courts in order to stop the transfer of a domain name may be extended for up to 14 days.  This is in addition to the 10 business days set out in the rules.

Further to the above, in order for the administrative proceedings to commence at all, the factual circumstances relating to the case must be considered, including the respondent’s location and last known address.  Hostmaster can instruct WIPO not to initiate proceedings if they feel that the particular circumstances of the case warrant this.

After consideration of the facts, the Administrative Panel may, additionally, suspend the proceedings if it concludes that the Respondent is “unable to exercise its right to defense at the time of the administrative proceedings, and if it is objectively impossible to consider the dispute without the Respondent’s participation.”  The Registry’s guidance on this states that the Panel should consider the location of the respondent and how the domain name has been used since the introduction of martial law.

The above-described modified rules for the UA-DRP will remain in force as long as martial law continues and for 90 days following its termination.

In light of the above, any party seeking to recuperate a .UA domain name via the UA-DRP should be aware that the above-mentioned changes will add over a month to the time required to reach a decision in the case, or that it could even be deemed impossible to consider the case at all.

Authored by the Anchovy News team.